Conspiracy Theory
by lostdreams1
Summary: (AU) Aspiring investigative reporter Kagome Higurashi is looking for the story of a lifetime, and soon finds herself in way over her head. Unlikely allies are her only chance of survival in a game where the truth could kill you...


Conspiracy Theory

----

lostdreams: Hi hi everyone! I'm back with a new fic! (I will finish the old ones I promise, but I got the idea for this one and well...here it is.

Inuyasha: She's lost her mind! Run for it now!

Kagome: Yes yes! Get away while you can!

Inuyasha: We can't take this anymore...what are you doing to us now?

lostdreams: Well I can't tell you yet cause that would give the story away to all the readers.

Inuyasha: What readers?

lostdreams: Snarls Just hush up and sit down! This is my story and I don't need any lip from either of you!

Kagome: Well some one is sure touchy...

lostdreams: grrrrrr.

Anywho...I don't own Inuyasha blah blah blah...and with that out of the way, enjoy.

----  
  
The bright sun shone down lazily on the quiet afternoon Birds were chirping and the entire world seemed to be at peace...a perfect spring day. Glancing up from the park bench she inhabited a young woman watched the children in amusement. Running, playing, laughing...how good it was to be young... The woman sighed almost jealously that such carefree lives existed. Briefly she remembered the days that she herself had been such a child, having fun on the warm days after school had let out for the summer. Some of the best days of her life had taken place at this very park.  
  
"Kagome?" The young woman looked up startled to see her friend approaching with a smile. They had agreed to meet in the park rather than in an office for mere reasons of comfort.  
  
"Hey Sango..." Kagome said brightly, her stormy blue eyes lighting up in recognition. Sango Taijiya and Kagome Higurashi had been best friends since their college days. As journalism majors they had been in many of the same classes and had been partners on several occasions. Now out in the real world, Sango was an assistant editor for a local newspaper and Kagome was taking a whack at being an investigative reporter, writing small articles on the side for extra cash. The twenty three year old woman was still waiting for her big break...the one story that would put her name in lights and give her the open door in to the field of true free-lance journalism. "So do you have anything for me today?"  
  
Sango's smile faltered for a moment and Kagome knew instantly that she had nothing. Working in a news office, Sango had a good chance of over hearing some juicy rumors that could lead to a great story. But it seemed that the news had been strangely dry recently...same old everything.  
  
"Sorry Kagome, but there's nothing out there," Sango apologized as she took the empty seat next to her friend. For some reason nothing interesting is happening...everything is old news..."  
  
"You don't have to tell me that...I've noticed," Kagome said dryly, leaning back against the bench. "I don't know about this anymore Sango. How am I going to be an investigative reporter if I can't find anything worth investigating?" Sango gave her friend a pitiful look and an encouraging smile.  
  
"Don't worry Kag...it won't stay like this forever. Before you know it something is gonna come up...something big. Look at it this way...it's been so long since something has happened that the odds are growing in your favor. It's like everyday it doesn't rain brings you one day closer to a downpour." Kagome digested Sango's words. They actually made a lot of sense...  
  
_[Sango's right...this dry spell can't last forever. And the minute the scent of a story comes my way I'll be on my way to the top...]_ she thought confidently. Kagome was determined not to let her dream die. Her mother had always taught her that the road to the top would be hard and but the only way to succeed was to keep at it. A renewed spark came back to Kagome's eyes as she smiled back at her friend.  
  
"Yea, you're right. I've just got to be patient," Kagome agreed, stormy orbs turning to watch the children again. Sango fell silent as well, her own brown eyes following Kagome's. It was almost relaxing to watch people having so much fun.  
  
"So what's next then?" Sango asked finally.  
  
"Well I suppose it's another round of everyday, run-of-the-mill articles for me. Need an extra reporter for the week?"  
  
"Do we ever," Sango said with a grin. "Toku is getting married in two weeks and wants the time off and Amon has been out sick for three days and probably another week to come." She had been hoping the conversation would lead to this since Kagome was an excellent writer and they did need the help. "So it's up to you...you can temp for Amon for a week or Toku for two weeks."  
  
"Sounds good, I'll come in on Monday then," Kagome said with a smile.  
  
"Toku or Amon?"  
  
"Well I don't want to settle myself into a rut now Sango," Kagome said with a wink. "If my big story comes up it won't wait for me."  
  
"I wouldn't dream of asking you to put it off either," Sango said with a smile standing back up. "I have to get back now. The chief wants me to go over the layout before he okay's it. I think he's getting tired of sending it back to processing to move things around," she informed Kagome with a grimace. Kagome laughed and stood as well.  
  
"I can't imagine why..."  
  
"Seriously," Sango agreed, shifting her bag over her shoulder. "Well I'm off. Call ya later this weekend, and see you on Monday if I don't' see you sooner!" Sango smiled again and took off back towards the news office.  
  
"Later," Kagome called, watching her friend go before sighing a little. Another week as a normal reporter...big deal. "I suppose I should be thankful," she muttered quietly. "I could be working at Wal-Mart or something..." Starting off slowly, Kagome continued to watch the children play as she meandered back home. Quite suddenly her eyes were drawn to the figure of a small boy standing off to the side of the playground, not playing, but merely watching...watching her more specifically. With a frown Kagome stopped quite suddenly. The child's large teal colored eyes were staring at her intently, watching her movements from behind a large tree. From where she stood Kagome could see the small fox-like ears on the boy, guessing him to be a kitsune demon. Demons weren't so uncommon nowadays. There were a fair number of them around and they lived peaceably with humans for the most part. There were occasional bouts of violence that occurred between the species, but gang violence was worse so no one paid much attention.  
  
Deciding to look into her little spy, Kagome began to cross the park. As she neared the boy, he suddenly that Kagome had caught him and ducked quickly behind the tree. Picking up her pace a little she hurried over to the child's hiding space only to find that her mini scout was gone. Searching all around the base of the tree and even glancing up into the branches, but there was no sign of the boy.  
  
"Hello?" she called, just for good measure, even though she didn't expect a response. Only the sound of other children playing reached her ears. Frowning again the raven-haired girl shook her head slowly and walked back towards the path. "Maybe my luck's changing already..." she murmured, her mind stuck on the image of the young kitsune.  
  
----  
  
"This is so fucking retarded..." a young man grumbled irritably, amber eyes set on the apparently empty warehouse, binoculars focusing on a number of different window...all of them barricaded. "There ain't nothing here...I don't care what the informant said," he complained again. The black haired man beside him in the plain blue sedan only shook his head.  
  
"Now now Inuyasha...patience is a virtue. Not every assignment can be the fast paced action that you like so much. Personally I think this a nice change. A plain old stake out...plenty of back up...all we have to do is wait for the enemy to come to us."  
  
"This is pansy work! We should be going in there to take them out the good old fashioned way! This waiting stuff is bullshit!" the aforementioned Inuyasha shot back, amber eyes blazing. As a hanyou, or half demon, the young man wasn't the kind that liked to take things easy. His body could go through much more abuse than even a strong mortal, and he tended to forget that most of his colleagues were humans. His partner, Miroku Houshi, only sighed. Inuyasha had never been one for waiting until the opportune moment.  
  
"I understand that you feel that way, but come on man...I can only handle so many bullets flying in my direction. We won't get lucky forever..." Miroku's words were ominous, but Inuyasha only shrugged them off.  
  
"Feh! Luck schmuck...there ain't nothing lucky about it...it's all skill..." Miroku rolled his eyes before turning his gaze back to the stake out. Inuyasha had an ego like nobody's business. On a constant rampage to prove himself, the young dog hanyou was not accustomed to doing things the easy way.  
  
"Perhaps my friend, but still I'd rather not press it...there they are!" he said suddenly, and Inuyasha raised his binoculars quickly. Their target had come out of the building, dark eyes darting around to make sure he and his business partner were alone.  
  
"'Bout damn time..." Inuyasha muttered, though his eyes had a glint of excite in them now, as they always did before a bust.  
  
"Remember...we have to wait for the hand off..." Miroku warned. Even as he spoke the suspects they were watching made a trade...a thick envelope for what looked like a floppy disk. "There it goes..." Before Miroku could utter another word, Inuyasha was out of the car, walking steadily across the street towards the two suspects. "Inuyasha..." Miroku uttered only half in disbelief. There was no talking any sense it to his thick head. As the head of long silver hair continued to approach at almost a leisurely pace, Miroku called on the back up, before exiting the car himself. Inuyasha was no more than ten feet away from their suspects and clearly he had them agitated already.  
  
"Who the hell are you?" the first asked suspiciously, black eyes glaring at the approaching stranger. Inuyasha just smirked.  
  
"Introductions later...how about you give me that disk in your pocket," he suggested, amber eyes daring him to refuse. The two men only stared in disbelief before laughing heartily. To them Inuyasha was a normal guy, a demon perhaps, but they were both well armed and even demons could die from bullet wounds.  
  
"And what makes you think we'd give you anything?" the second jeered wickedly. "You aren't the one toting a gun now are you?" he asked, whipping out his own weapon. From behind Inuyasha Miroku pulled his own gun, but couldn't stop the smile from creeping over his face. The second man had just made a very big mistake. First of all Inuyasha did have a gun...but only because he was forced to carry it, and secondly, his fists were far more deadly than his shooting. In all honesty, Inuyasha had rotten aim.  
  
Inuyasha only smiled, an eerie confident smile that sent shivers down the spines of the two men. Pulling out his own weapon, the first man also pointed it at Inuyasha. "You have one second to stop and state your purpose before I kill you," he said coldly. As before, the hanyou only smiled as he took one more step.  
  
Everything happened in rapid succession after that. The sound of gunshots rang through the otherwise quiet street, but they were nowhere near their intended target. In the blink of an eye Inuyasha had taken to the air, landing lightly behind the two suspects, knocking their heads forcefully together and sending them both to the ground in a heap of unconscious bad guy. Sirens began to wail announcing the quick arrival of their cover, but Miroku was there to tell them it was already over. Most of the force knew of Inuyasha's tactics and so none were surprised by the scene, though emotions ranged from disgust to pride. The dog half-demon certainly kept things interesting.  
  
Agents came forward quickly to cuff both suspects, though the pair was still out cold. Rummaging through their pockets Inuyasha produced both the disk and the packet. Handing them off to Miroku, Inuyasha began to head back to the sedan.  
  
"Okay people let's get this cleaned up quickly, I want a ballistics team in here to find the slugs from the guns. See if we can pin any other crimes on these two scum," Miroku ordered. Everyone began moving fast, following orders quickly. That was one nice thing about the FBI...when you were a team leader you had all the underlings you wanted at your disposal, all jumping at your next command. Placing the disk and the package in a large plastic bag, the young black haired agent followed after his partner who was already waiting in the running car.  
  
"Took ya long enough...we headed back to HQ?" Inuyasha asked as Miroku got in.  
  
"Yep. We've got to get these things to the director. He thinks Naraku might be behind part of it, though obviously he wasn't directly involved," Miroku said, examining the items through the plastic. "It will be interesting to find out what's on this disk though." Inuyasha had stiffened visibly at the mention of Naraku, the leader of the city's crime syndicate having business deals around the world. He was public enemy number one in the FBI's books, constantly involved in dangerous illegal activity ranging from petty theft to high stakes smuggling. He had become rather inactive in the past four years however, only minor charges. It was as though Naraku was trying to keep a low profile...  
  
"Fucking scum..." Inuyasha seethed almost inaudibly. Miroku cast a sideways glance at his friend. Naraku had been the cause of death of Toutousai...an old friend of Inuyasha's father. Since his father had passed away before he could remember, the old man had been the closest thing to a father figure Inuyasha could remember. And even though they scarcely got along, Inuyasha had been deeply angered by his senseless death. Normally personal vendettas were frowned upon in their line of work, but Miroku didn't think that this would apply in Inuyasha's case. If you were stupid enough to upset the hanyou enough to the point that he would seek revenge then gods help your soul. Still...it had been nearly four years since they had last heard from Naraku.  
  
_[Every clear day brings you one step closer to a downpour...]_ Miroku thought ominously. The director was getting antsy, something big was coming...and now it was just a manner of finding out what in time to stop it.  
  
The blue sedan peeled away from the warehouse and headed back for the inner city. ----  
  
"I take it that everything went according to plan...Yes...Good...Call me immediately upon your findings. I want to know what is on that disk." Hanging up the phone with a sigh, a golden eyed and silver haired individual gently brought his fingers to his temples. As head of the FBI all procedures at some point came through him for approval, rejection, what have you. And sometimes the job was more trouble than it was worth. At least they believed to be gaining some head way with Naraku. It had been far too long since the Syndicate boss had been active. There was no chance that he was dead, captured or even retired. So what the hell was he doing that he managed to keep such a low profile?  
  
"Sesshomaru sir?" A toad-like demon hobbled into the office of the great dog demon. Looking sharply at the secretary his expression alone was enough to demand explanation for the interruption. "Madame President wishes to speak to you about the FBI's raid today."  
  
"I will head up there shortly then Jakken," Sesshomaru said without emotion. His tone was fearfully cold.  
  
"Yes sir." Jakken left the room, allowing Sesshomaru his privacy once again. Turning back to the window he wanted to roll his eyes at the prospect of meeting with the president...Madame President. Kikyo Goshinboku was the first woman president the country had ever seen...though rumors were flying that the election had been a set up, financed by illegal funding. Still over the past two years she had done a good job. The economy was stable, the unemployment rate had dropped and her foreign policies had been nothing short of brilliant. And yet...  
  
Heading out of his own office, Sesshomaru turned down one corridor and then another till he reached the oval office. Nodding at the guards, he stepped inside finding Madame President sitting calmly at her desk. She was younger to, though she had played off being of age in the beginning. For some reason people didn't seem to care that she had lied about her age as she swept the nation, destroying her competition with a massive eighty nine percent majority. Long black hair was held back in a tight bun, her business suit crisp and creaseless, as though she had just stepped out of a magazine. He supposed she was pretty, but it wasn't something Sesshomaru concerned himself with.  
  
"You wished to see me?" Kikyo looked up and smiled when she saw him. Standing, she crossed the room and offered a handshake before settling on the edge of a sofa, long legs crossed at the knee.  
  
"I did Sesshomaru. I believe you told me yesterday about a little raid that you had planned for today. I merely want to know the results," she said forwardly, though there was a glint of something in her eye that made Sess a little uncomfortable.  
  
"It went exactly as planned. No one was injured, no property damaged. The suspects are in custody." He only gave her the bare minimum facts.  
  
"And the disk?" Sesshomaru looked up quickly, a frown on his face. When he had spoken to her about the raid the day before he had mentioned nothing about the items being traded...so how the hell did she know that now? Kikyo must have noticed the look on his face because she quickly explained. "You are not my only source of information Mr. Kaiyou. I spoke with Agent Toshida earlier today and he mentioned it though could not give me a full report until he talked to you." She was very straight forward, but Sesshomaru didn't look convinced.  
  
"The disk was encrypted with a sensitive code. If not broken properly the information on the disk will be lost," he said finally still clearly suspicious about Kikyo's level of knowledge. She always seemed to be ahead of the game, even if she should have been the last to know.  
  
"How long?"  
  
"As long as it takes." Standing up Kikyo walked annoying close to where he was sitting, moving to position herself right in front of him.  
  
"That's not an acceptable answer," she said sharply. "I want that information decoded immediately."  
  
"I already told you about the necessary precautions," he said distantly. Vaguely he imagined snapping her pathetic human neck in two, but of course let no emotion cross his face.  
  
"How many people do you have on it?"  
  
"Four of the most talented computer technicians."  
  
"Get more." Sesshomaru sighed, looking rather perturbed.  
  
"I cannot pull agents off of other cases to give this a priority if we don't even know what's on that disk. Besides, Madame President, there is a good chance that it has nothing to do with Naraku anyway. We haven't had a major action by him in over four years if you'll recall." Kikyo looked furious with his noncompliance, and narrowed her eyes dangerously.  
  
"Need I remind you Mr. Kaiyou that even though you may have been in this position for a number of years, I still have the authority to fire you if I find you are not competent enough to handle this job," she threatened softly. At her words, Sesshomaru stood up. At his full height he towered over the president. Kikyo's eyes widened a little in surprise, but she stood her ground. For a moment the tension accumulated thickly between the pair, until a knock at the door brought tempers back down. "Come in," Kikyo said, probably more nastily than she had intended. Stalking behind her desk she sat down as Inuyasha and Miroku entered the fray. Inuyasha met neither his half brother's, nor the president's eyes, opting to stand sullenly behind his partner. Inuyasha had not agreed with the idea of bringing the info straight to the chief, but Miroku had insisted that it couldn't wait.  
  
"What do you two want?" Sesshomaru asked quietly, his voice tight. Kikyo looked mildly interested in the agents' appearance, dark eyes glued to Inuyasha.  
  
"The disk is blank."  
  
"What?!" Kikyo stood up again, her hands on the desk. "How could it be blank?" All three sets of eyes in the room turned to look at her curiously. Since when was it a big deal? There were no outstanding threats, nothing to suggest they were in any danger...so why was Kikyo upset about a disk that probably didn't hold anything important anyway. The president seemed to notice her outburst had been unacceptable and calmed down considerably, sitting down again. "Are you sure?"  
  
"He said it didn't he?" Inuyasha muttered to low for her to hear. Miroku stepped on his foot anyway.  
  
"Yes Madame President." Sighing heavily, Kikyo looked lost in thought for a moment. Inuyasha and Miroku shifted uneasily, unsure on whether or not to linger. Sesshomaru on the other hand stood up professionally.  
  
"I'm assuming with this news our conversation is done?" he asked curtly. Kikyo glared at him.  
  
"Yes Mr. Kaiyou. If the disk is blank then we have nothing further to discuss." With a smirk and a nod Sesshomaru was out of the office in a hurry. Miroku followed, though Inuyasha seemed to linger a moment. After the other two had left, he looked back at the black haired woman, walking slowly across the room.  
  
"You look tense. I take it you and Sess had a row before we came in..." he said quietly, a small smile on his handsome face. Kikyo looked up almost wearily, before standing and meeting him in the middle of the office.  
  
"You're brother is the most arrogant and infuriating bastard I have ever met," she said softly, laying her head against his chest. Inuyasha sighed, rubbing her back slowly. They had been meeting off and on like this since he had been assigned to security detail. They couldn't call themselves a couple...but there was definitely chemistry between them. Kissing him gently, Kikyo lost herself in an amber gaze. "You didn't call last night."  
  
"We were getting ready for the raid."  
  
"I don't like you on field duty. I'd rather have you protecting me," Kikyo said coyly, running a finger up his broad chest. Inuyasha said nothing. He liked field duty better. A stronger sense of danger, and a lot more action...two things that Inuyasha required in his line of work.  
  
"I had better get going before someone begins to get suspicious," he told her, brushing a fallen bang out of her face. Kikyo looked torn for a moment, but nodded slowly, pulling away from him.  
  
"You will call tonight though right?"  
  
"Promise." Giving her another quick kiss, Inuyasha slipped out the door. Kikyo stood in the middle of the room, gazing after him, her expression changing from wistful to annoyed in a few seconds. Cold and clearly irritated she marched over to her phone punching in the numbers with force. Lifting the receiver to her ear, she drummed her fingers impatiently on the desk.  
  
"Hello?...It's me...Yes...The disk didn't work..."  
  
----  
  
"So what did you find out runt?" Cold ice blue eyes glared down at the form of a young fox demon.  
  
"She seemed to want a story..." the boy said nervously, shifting from foot to foot.  
  
"That's not good enough!" he seethed, but quickly dropped his voice. Glancing around nervously, he looked down at the boy, Shippo, again. "I need to know if she can she handle it?"  
  
"I think so Kouga. I think she'd be good." Shippo danced around on the floor at the wolf demon's feet, unable to stand still.  
  
"Thinking isn't enough Shippo. Not with something like this..." Now Kouga's voice sounded tight with worry. This was bigger...bigger than all of them, and he couldn't stand by and merely follow orders anymore. The plans that were ensuing were threatening to encompass them all, and once completed it would be almost impossible to stop them. The only hope to end this safely was to thwart the effort early on...to keep it from coming to pass. "I have to know if she's strong enough to take this...strong enough to tell people..."  
  
"She is Kouga. Kagome is the right person for us," the young boy said finally. He was just a child, a messenger...no one told him anything. He didn't know what Kouga was referring to with 'something like this'. It bothered him that the wolf demon seemed scared. Kouga was the strongest person Shippo knew... "What's going on Kouga?" The wolf demon looked gruffly down at the kitsune.  
  
"Never you mind. It doesn't concern you..." he said, stalking off, his mind full of what he was about to do. Kagome Higurashi...he had read a few of her articles. She was good...very good. The way she wrote had the ability to instigate feelings and start investigations. As of now he could only hope that she could take the pressure...  
  
----  
  
Angry red numbers flashed three am when Kagome awoke to the sound of her phone ringing insistently. Frowning she turned on the beside lamp, and answered the incessant ringing.  
  
"'Ello," she said groggily, rubbing her eyes.  
  
"Kagome Higurashi." The voice on the other line was cold and blank, sending chills instantly down her spine. "I have the story you're looking for..." 

----

lostdreams: I should have another chapter of You Want Me to WHAT this week or next...as well as at least some progress on the other two...please read/review!


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